Taxes and cake

Editorial

The Republicans are intent on screwing over blue states. Led
by President Donald Trump, conservatives are closer than ever to passing a tax
reform package that will be devastating to California and other coastal states.
We already pay more in taxes than red states, and the plans that have passed
the House and Senate do away with state and local tax deductions. This will
have a profound impact on homeowners, including LGBT families, who could see
their taxes increase by thousands of dollars. "This bill will divide the
blue states from the red, the Democrats from the Republicans. It is evil in the
extreme," Governor Jerry Brown said in a call with reporters Monday. He
was joined by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor-elect Phil
Murphy.

In addition to tax pain for families, the Republican plan
will also hurt governments' ability to raise taxes. As the San Francisco
Chronicle pointed out, state and local governments have been able to
"sell" tax increases by pointing out that they are deductible on
federal returns. No more. And San Francisco is a city that loves to tax itself
to pay for a variety of services. It remains to be seen whether that trend will
continue.

Tax experts told the New York Times that the Senate and
House plans' capping of mortgage deductions could make buying a home in the
Golden State more difficult.

"It could have spiraling consequences – the
economy, the real estate market, revenues to local governments – it goes
further and further into things where it could have a negative impact,"
Gonzalo Freixes, a tax expert at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, told the
paper.

But it's not just property owners who will be squeezed. As
we pointed out in this week's online Gays Across America column, Equality
California has serious concerns with the tax overhaul. Executive Director Rick
Zbur said in an email blast that it "would benefit the top 1 percent of
Americans and corporations at the expense of LGBTQ people, people living with
HIV and AIDS, working families, students, and low-income people."

The tax plan includes "deep, across-the-board spending
cuts" on programs including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or
food stamps), Medicare and Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income for
people who are living with HIV/AIDS and others, said Zbur.

The proposal also includes repealing the mandate that every
individual have health insurance, a key component of the Affordable Care Act.
Zbur said that undoing the mandate "would lead to an estimated
13 million people dropping from ACA coverage, and drastic spikes in insurance
premiums."

The House and Senate are currently reconciling the two
bills; one version must be approved to make it to Trump's desk. But from all
accounts, it's going to be painful for a lot of people, while corporations and
the wealthy will see their taxes drop. Trump is wrong when he says it's a
middle-class tax cut, at least for California. The middle class here, already
struggling with high housing costs and stagnant wages (in many cases) will feel
real pain.

This is just another reason why the seven California
congressional Republicans in districts won by Hillary Clinton last year need to
be defeated in the 2018 midterms.

Let them (not) order cake

Tuesday's oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission is the latest effort
by conservatives to chip away at laws that protect minorities, including LGBTs.
In this case, a gay couple went to Jack Phillips' bakery to order a wedding
cake for their reception. Phillips refused their request, and the couple sought
relief through state anti-discrimination laws and were successful. Phillips had
appealed the civil rights commission's ruling and finally made it to the
Supreme Court.

Early reports coming after the session don't bode well for
LGBTs. Some legal observers predict a narrow ruling that would preserve
Phillips' right to discriminate if he custom creates a cake, but he would have
to sell existing cakes to anyone. That's probably the best outcome the LGBT
community could hope for, and even it would send a deeply troubling message
that we are not free from discrimination.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the fifth vote in many of the
court's LGBT rights victories, "seemed troubled," Politico reported,
by Colorado officials' treatment of Phillips, which included ordering him and
his staff to undergo "remedial training." But Kennedy also seemed
concerned about same-sex couples who might be denied services. The liberal
online site ThinkProgress went further, stating that LGBT rights had "a
horrible day" at the Supreme Court and predicted Kennedy would side with
Phillips.

Another disturbing development in LGBT rights occurred
Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case out of Texas where
that state's Supreme Court has ruled that the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges
decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide does not fully address
marriage benefits. The city of Houston had requested high court review in Turner
v. Pidgeon after the state Supreme Court threw out a lower court ruling that
said spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to
government-subsidized marriage benefits. The state high court said that
Obergefell does not require that "states must provide the same publicly
funded benefits to all married persons."

This is a major challenge to Obergefell, which Justice Neil
Gorsuch said was "settled law" during his confirmation hearing
earlier this year. The National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ Legal
Advocates & Defenders pointed out that the case is far from over, and
returns to the Texas trial court for a final decision. The groups said it was
premature to petition the Supreme Court to hear it, since there hasn't been a
final judgment yet. But we are on notice that marriage equality is increasingly
under attack in the courts, which is another example of how basic equality is
under assault now that Trump is president.